LETTER TO CPUC

RE: CPUC Proceeding on the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA)

Dear Commissioners,

We appreciate the CPUC is taking steps to ensure that the costs of investments made in clean energy and other resources are being equitably shared by all customers. As more customers purchase power from sources other than their utility, it is important that customers who may not have alternative options available, or those who opt to continue purchasing power from their utility, are not paying for power purchased for others.

Unfortunately, that is not the case today. Despite current laws intended to protect customers, the mechanism currently in place – often referred to as the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) – is not working. We understand that, in some areas, customers who now receive power through an alternative energy provider have on average paid roughly 65% of the cost of renewable and other resources that were purchased on their behalf. In some instances, remaining utility customers could end up paying roughly $150 extra per year to pay for power purchased for others. In all cases, as more alternative energy providers form, there are going to be fewer remaining utility customers left paying an increasing cost for power purchased for others.

Over time, more customers are expected to have more choices, so failure to reform the PCIA means a diminishing number of customers will be paying increasingly more for the long-term renewable and other resources that are helping California achieve its clean energy and climate goals.

To ensure that the move to more customer choice is both sustainable and equitable, the CPUC should modify the PCIA to ensure that all customers contribute equitably to the costs of investments made on their behalf.

As you deliberate changes to the PCIA, our organizations urge the Commission to make these changes as quickly and fairly as possible.

Sincerely,

Dave Rodriguez, State PresidentCalifornia League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

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EECC is a coalition of low-income, senior, business, labor, veteran and other diverse community groups that have come together, with support from the state’s three investor-owned electric utilities. The purpose of EECC is to support regulatory and policy changes to ensure bundled utility customers are not paying more than their share for clean energy and other power purchased for customers now being served by CCAs and other energy providers.